IDENTIFICATION OF A NEIGHBOUR (LUKE 10:25-37) IN NIGERIAN MULTI-CULTURAL CONTEXT
God, out of his goodness created humankind (Adam) in his own image and likeness, male and female he created them (Gen 1:27). God after creating them, he blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that move upon the earth” (Gen. 1:28). As mankind continued to live as was commanded, they turned inwards to subdue and dominate one another. Man against woman; village against village, town against town; state against state; region against region and worst of all tribe against tribe. This domination can come in the form of “stronger persons” dominating the “weaker ones,” “the stronger families” dominating “weaker families,” or “the stronger tribes” dominating “weaker tribes” etc. Jesus Christ when he came as God made man, he noticed these divisions among mankind hence on his last supper with his apostles he prayed, “That they may be one” (John.17: 11). He said it at the last supper to show how dear that unity is to his heart. St. Paul in trying to re-echo Jesus’ teaching among the Corinthians says, “Has Christ been divided?” (1Cor1:13). Whenever you gather among yourselves as Christians, there should be neither Jew nor Gentile, male or female, you are all one before God (Gal 3:28).The story of Good Samaritan is one of the ways through which Christ tried to tell us that we ought to look at one another fundamentally as image and likeness of God. The presence among Christians of tribal sentiments and loyalty to one’s ethnic group must be a scandal of great proportion to all of us who claim to be the agents for spreading Christ’s kingdom of love, and brotherhood in the world. Since we are now the authentic image of God, there ought not to be any form of division among us.